This week marked the 100 year since the birth of Roald Dahl. One of my favourite writers for children. When taking an assembly during a visit to St Peter’s last year, I led by reading the introduction to Matilda - a book which has, I am sure you know, many wonderful lessons to learn for both teacher and parents. As well as introducing some the formidable Headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, surely one of the most dastardly villains of all time who thinks nothing of hurling children (who she refers to as ‘maggots’ over vast distances and confining those who dared to oppose her into a medieval torture-device - ‘The Chokey’), we are introduced to Matilda’s parents, the Wormwoods who don’t understand her, tell her not to read so much and beg her to watch more ‘Telly’. And then of course, the wonderful ‘Matilda’. Bookworms have few role models in life and Matilda was the best: Independent, brave, resourceful, a girl who only got cooler under pressure, even when it was being applied by the ghastly ‘Trunchbull’. All of these key attributes (independent, brave, resourceful, cool under pressure) are traits we want to encourage in our children at St. Peter’s and this is part of what the St. Peter’s Baccalaureate teaches. Many thanks to Mrs Ball for a detailed and interesting presentation on the Baccalaureate to new parents this week. It is a unique and special part of what we do here and I am very much enjoying seeing it in action as the children and teachers constantly refer to it throughout their teaching and learning.
My first full week at St. Peter’s has been interesting, varied and exciting. I have enjoyed early morning walks around the estate and, as planned, I have spent much time in classrooms sitting with the children and talking to them about their learning. I was made a cup of tea by a nursery child (pretend, obviously!) and entertained with much conversation about helicopters. Reception went swimming on Wednesday and I spent time with Year 8 who were out with clipboards researching for History, learning about identity and empathy in their philosophy class. Year 7 were exploring Newtons in a Physics Lesson in our state of the art Science Lab, Year 3 were exploring Numeracy using hands-on resources, Year 2 were exploring number bonds (including half numbers!) and Year 1 were getting ready to learn their first spellings. Year 6 Maths spent the lesson outside collecting data to use during their lessons this week, Year 5 were having huge discussions about World War II and writing introductions to their own war stories. I have watched Rugby and Hockey practice, had lunch with the children every day and spent time with the staff and parents. With small class sizes and a beautiful site, it has been wonderful to see such positive, energetic teaching from very committed teachers who clearly enjoy teaching the children in such a picturess environment. Hopefully, the children won’t learn so much that, like Matilda, they learn to move newts into my water glass.
We also held an eSafety workshop last week. eSafety is a very important issue for parents and children. It is essential that parents are up to speed with the technology that the children are using, particularly social media. As social media becomes more prevalent and the use of portable devices means that children are often on the iPad in their bedrooms rather than a computer in a public area of the house (the corner of the kitchen or the study), parents and pupils need help with keeping their children safe. The presentation addressed current apps and games that children will be aware of and helped parents navigate through the complexities of online use without frightening parents! The internet is recognised as a hugely powerful tool for learning and the benefits of networking, collaboration and creativity cannot be underestimated.
Moving ahead to next week, I look forward to seeing you at the Learn the Recorder Workshops (Year 2 and Year 3) on Tuesday, the Senior School Parents Study Skills Seminar on Thursday and at the big matches against Blundell’s, Queen’s Taunton and Stover.
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